Ugly events in Boseong reported in Yonhap today. A pastor, identified only as Park, and his wife, allowed their three children to starve to death after severe beatings had failed to rid them of demons.
“The pastor couple said they beat their children to cast out demons. Autopsy results indicated that the children had not been fed since Jan. 23.”
They had shown “symptoms of the flu,” but the good Rev decided beatings were better than the health care system. When that didn’t work, they tried a forced fast.
The children were 10, 8 and 5 years old. There is a fourth child who, apparently, survived and is now in protective custody.
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Sickening. The only thing even remotely approaching justice in this case would be to permit the slow, agonizing, physical torture of this bastard over the rest of a very long life.
Eff me…
I wonder what his docile “flock” thinks of him …
This is the kind of thing that only Muslims do. At least that’s what the Christians keep telling me.
I wonder if any studies have been done about this phenomenon in Korea. I have personal knowledge of one other horrific case from more than 20 years in which two very young children saw their mother being ritually slaughtered with knives by a group of the communicants under the supervision of their pastor-father in a casting-out exercise. He’s long since been released from jail and the kids, who grew up as orphans in the States, not long ago came back to visit Korea on their “roots” trip. Somehow they tracked down their father, who has a new congregation in a felt-covered quonset out in the boonies, and wanted to visit him. I went along, sort of as security-detail – the boy is a big guy now – and between the weirdness of the religious encampment and the awkwardness, to say the least, of the reunion, it was one of the most hair-raising experiences of my life.
I wonder if we have any stats on how many of these cases are actually ordained ministers of a recognized religion, and how many are simply self-declared “pastors”. I understand that in this case at least the latter was true.
My sister told me a story of being invited out to the Korean boonies once by her co-worker back in the days when she was living in the ROK. She found herself being encouraged to join a weird cult that worshipped a sexual predator, who carried out his service via video link from a secret overseas hiding place. The girls of the cult were encouraged to give their leader nude pictures so he could more easily choose a suitable female for “purification rituals”. We’re pretty sure it was Jeong Myeong-seok.
Not that I think this sort of stuff is particularly common. But I think it’s safe to say cults do tend to bring out the worst in people.
I don’t know about the stats Hamel, but this missus says, as you suggest, that this particular guy is not ordained by any recognised church.
Somehow, the judge will sympathize or empathize with the accused male in the verdict. He is a man of God after all. The lawyer for the accused will see to it that a Christian judge is sitting on the bench.
Religious people = usually OK(as long as they don’t go on about it). Religious people with strong feelings about religion = often downright frightening. Anyone in a cult = run away! I think a lot of churches in Korea, seem to be quite cult like.
@8 ‘ordained’ religious scumbags get up to mischief too, sometimes in the highest levels of ‘organised religions’. Just look at the filthy mess in the catholic church,The corrupt buddhist groups in Korea, the fact that some poor Saudi guy is probably going to get his head cut off by Islamic nutters because of a ‘tweet’, sectarian violence claiming lives everyday, stonings, witch burnings, lynch mobs, child brides. Religions attract a lot of very dangerous people. I don’t have any kids myself now, but if I did I’d keep them well away from any religion for their safety.
Some religious folks are merely annoying, waking you up by knocking on your door early in the morning, or making lots of noise, or accosting people in the street. Others are downright dangerous, such as religious terrorists, sexual predators, cult leaders, healthcare deniers.
I don’t believe in hell. But, if there was a hell it would be largely full of religious people. If there is a hell, atheists probably get a bit lonely down there and you’d only get to hang out with a few scumbags like Stalin and Pol Pot. Religious nutters, on the other hand, would probably have quite the active social scene.
You have touched upon something here I think regarding the essence of reality.
‘l’enfer, cest les autres’? Sorry, but my French is very rusty these days.
I must admit I prefer the English language, and RAW’s (quote) “reality is what you can get away with”. At least it’s honest. I like honesty.
I’d like to think that a god, any of the thousands of them “known” to man, would gain next to no pleasure by condemning atheists to hell. Hey, at least we don’t support his rival(s), and we all know how jealous the divine beings are supposed to be!
Your humble Secular Humanist,
SeoulFinn
So many gods, yet none of them could save these innocent children.
http://www.graveyardofthegods.org/deadgods/listofgods.html
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